Kitchen Stories: Homemade Chicken Bone Broth Recipe

There are few things that make me feel more accomplished as a home cook than making my own chicken broth. Not only is it the highest quality, it’s also far better than anything you’ll buy in the stores. I’m sharing my favorite homemade chicken bone broth recipe today.

Because I tend to buy organic/hormone free chicken, I spend more than average on meat so I love knowing that I will get an entirely new use out of the leftovers by popping them into a pot with some veggies.

Bone broth has certainly come into vogue the last few years, but it’s a very basic healthful food that generations have prepared and consumed. There are minerals and gelatin that are released during the slow cooking process that make the flavor and nutrition exceptionally good. Bone broth is now easy to find in any grocery store, but in case you want to try making your own, here is the recipe that I follow loosely. For a more neutral flavored broth, leave out the turmeric and extra seasoning at the end, I prefer mine to be a sort of “sipping broth” and it’s very bright and flavorful on it’s own.

Go ahead, give it a try!

Tips:

• Use the best possible chicken to start with, something organic or at least hormone free.
• Roasting the bones in the oven at 450 degrees for a few minutes before you begin will give an even deeper, richer flavor to your broth.
• If you have leftover chicken and no time to cook it, just pop it into the freezer along with leftover veggie and herb scraps.
• Your chicken bone broth will store in your fridge for about 4 days, I prefer to keep leftovers in my freezer. (I have not used these SOUPER CUBES, but I hear they are perfect for this.
• I use turmeric in my recipe because I love the color and the extra health benefits. Josh always says this broth feels like a warm hug for your gut and I agree!
• CROCKPOT is my preferred method of slow cooking. Beware if yours has an automatic shutoff after so many hours, this happened to me once and I woke up to find the crockpot had turned off sometime during the night. Not good! And as always with food “when in doubt, throw it out!”
• Your bone broth will firm up when cold, don’t be weirded out! That is the natural gelatin content and is perfectly normal, in fact, you want this to happen. Broth will re-liquify when heated.